I grew up in a household where criticism was the rule over being nice. It was a hard way to grow up, never hearing a kind word or being given a pat on the back for doing a good job.
Here is a funny example: I went to visit my parents and when my dad answered the door, instead of saying "Hi, how are you?" or "Glad to see you." His first words when he opened the door were, "What did you do, comb your hair with a fork?" Since this was the type of thing I always ran into with my parents, it really didn't phase me much.
One of the things that I learned along the way was to just roll with the punches. In spite of my upbringing, I had to teach myself how to say things in a kind way and that was really hard, since I didn't have any role models to copy.
When ptquilts said, "One of my favorite sayings, "Never attribute to malice, that which is adequately explained by stupidity." Applies to a lot of hurtful comments. This is a perfect saying that I will remember from now on.